| Topic: |
Sociology > Depression |
| User: |
"Babaga" |
| Date: |
19 Sep 2004 05:34:29 AM |
| Object: |
(OT) Remembering Market Garden |
Today it is 60 years ago that British and Polish soldiers tried to free
this part of the Netherlands from the Germans. More than 1600 died.
They didn't succeed in reaching their goal: freeing the bridge over the
river Rhine (see the film ' A bridge too far'). My village and it's
surroundings were the stage of a hideous massacre. The military leaders
made one mistake after another and despite the effort and death of
those brave soldiers, the war lasted yet another year and thousands of
citizens were driven from their homes during and after this battle.
Today, and this week and this month, we remember and honour those who
fell in trying to free our country. On the war cemetery in Oosterbeek
our Queen Beatrix and British Prins Charles attend the ceremony. More
than thousand school children from our community lay flowers on each of
those more than thousand graves. Veterans, now in their eighties and
nineties, place funeral wreaths at the foot of the monument.
The ceremony is very impressive and brings tears to my eyes. What a
waste of young lives. What bravery. What a lot to be grateful for. What
madness. A lot of conflicting emotions. War is all of that.
Where I live the second world war is never far away: War cemeteries,war
memorials, war museums. In September, even after 60 years, it becomes
very real again.
Babaga
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| User: "Contrarian" |
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| Title: Re: (OT) Remembering Market Garden |
20 Sep 2004 11:56:16 PM |
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Babaga <m.voort@keyaccess.nl> wrote:
Today it is 60 years ago that British and Polish soldiers tried to free
this part of the Netherlands from the Germans...
Where I live the second world war is never far away: War cemeteries,war
memorials, war museums. In September, even after 60 years, it becomes
very real again.
One of my uncles is buried in Europe, WWII. Yes, it is
rememberd here too.
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| User: "Alan Harding" |
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| Title: Re: (OT) Remembering Market Garden |
19 Sep 2004 03:16:10 PM |
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In message <xn0dngakh4giwd000@news.keyaccess.nl>, Babaga
<m.voort@keyaccess.nl> writes
Today it is 60 years ago that British and Polish soldiers tried to free
this part of the Netherlands from the Germans. More than 1600 died.
They didn't succeed in reaching their goal: freeing the bridge over the
river Rhine (see the film ' A bridge too far'). My village and it's
surroundings were the stage of a hideous massacre. The military leaders
made one mistake after another and despite the effort and death of
those brave soldiers, the war lasted yet another year and thousands of
citizens were driven from their homes during and after this battle.
Today, and this week and this month, we remember and honour those who
fell in trying to free our country. On the war cemetery in Oosterbeek
our Queen Beatrix and British Prins Charles attend the ceremony. More
than thousand school children from our community lay flowers on each of
those more than thousand graves. Veterans, now in their eighties and
nineties, place funeral wreaths at the foot of the monument.
The ceremony is very impressive and brings tears to my eyes. What a
waste of young lives. What bravery. What a lot to be grateful for. What
madness. A lot of conflicting emotions. War is all of that.
Where I live the second world war is never far away: War cemeteries,war
memorials, war museums. In September, even after 60 years, it becomes
very real again.
The biggest airborne attack ever. They had one of the smallest parachute
drops to help commemorate it - two of the original parachutists,
strapped to members of the current Army parachute display team.
One of the veterans was 84, and had been blind since 7 hours into the
attack in 1944. Imagine jumping out of an aircraft, two miles high,
helped by someone you can't see, towards the ground you can't see (and
free-falling half the way) to commemorate something that gave you sixty
years of sightlessness.
--
The opinions given above may be mine. They might also
just be what I feel like saying right now, okay?
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| User: "Babaga" |
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| Title: Re: (OT) Remembering Market Garden |
20 Sep 2004 04:25:21 AM |
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Alan Harding wrote:
In message <xn0dngakh4giwd000@news.keyaccess.nl>, Babaga
<m.voort@keyaccess.nl> writes
Today it is 60 years ago that British and Polish soldiers tried to
free this part of the Netherlands from the Germans. More than 1600
died. They didn't succeed in reaching their goal: freeing the
bridge over the river Rhine (see the film ' A bridge too far'). My
village and it's surroundings were the stage of a hideous massacre.
The military leaders made one mistake after another and despite the
effort and death of those brave soldiers, the war lasted yet
another year and thousands of citizens were driven from their homes
during and after this battle.
Today, and this week and this month, we remember and honour those
who fell in trying to free our country. On the war cemetery in
Oosterbeek our Queen Beatrix and British Prins Charles attend the
ceremony. More than thousand school children from our community lay
flowers on each of those more than thousand graves. Veterans, now
in their eighties and nineties, place funeral wreaths at the foot
of the monument.
The ceremony is very impressive and brings tears to my eyes. What a
waste of young lives. What bravery. What a lot to be grateful for.
What madness. A lot of conflicting emotions. War is all of that.
Where I live the second world war is never far away: War
cemeteries,war memorials, war museums. In September, even after 60
years, it becomes very real again.
The biggest airborne attack ever. They had one of the smallest
parachute drops to help commemorate it - two of the original
parachutists, strapped to members of the current Army parachute
display team.
There were in fact 8 veterans jumping. Two of whom even jumped solo!
One of the veterans was 84, and had been blind since 7 hours into the
attack in 1944. Imagine jumping out of an aircraft, two miles high,
helped by someone you can't see, towards the ground you can't see
(and free-falling half the way) to commemorate something that gave
you sixty years of sightlessness.
Yes, brave hearts never die. The veterans were welcomed on the heather
fields by an audience of over 40,000 people. Even the blind soldier
could sense their/our gratitude and awe for his suffering. This doesn't
compensate for his loss, of course. Or the loss of 1674 young lives.
But within our villages the awareness of what those soldiers tried to
do for us is still very much alive. And even when the last veteran has
gone, they will remain in our collective memory.
Babaga
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| User: "John" |
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| Title: Re: (OT) Remembering Market Garden |
19 Sep 2004 12:20:03 PM |
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x-no-archive: yes
"Babaga" <m.voort@keyaccess.nl> wrote in message
news:xn0dngakh4giwd000@news.keyaccess.nl...
Today it is 60 years ago that British and Polish soldiers tried to free
this part of the Netherlands from the Germans. More than 1600 died.
They didn't succeed in reaching their goal: freeing the bridge over the
river Rhine (see the film ' A bridge too far'). My village and it's
surroundings were the stage of a hideous massacre. The military leaders
made one mistake after another and despite the effort and death of
those brave soldiers, the war lasted yet another year and thousands of
citizens were driven from their homes during and after this battle.
Today, and this week and this month, we remember and honour those who
fell in trying to free our country. On the war cemetery in Oosterbeek
our Queen Beatrix and British Prins Charles attend the ceremony. More
than thousand school children from our community lay flowers on each of
those more than thousand graves. Veterans, now in their eighties and
nineties, place funeral wreaths at the foot of the monument.
The ceremony is very impressive and brings tears to my eyes. What a
waste of young lives. What bravery. What a lot to be grateful for. What
madness. A lot of conflicting emotions. War is all of that.
Where I live the second world war is never far away: War cemeteries,war
memorials, war museums. In September, even after 60 years, it becomes
very real again.
Babaga
Thank you for reminding us of these events.
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| User: "neoholistic" |
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| Title: Re: (OT) Remembering Market Garden |
19 Sep 2004 04:35:40 PM |
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x-no-archive: yes
Babaga wrote:
Where I live the second world war is never far away: War cemeteries,war
memorials, war museums. In September, even after 60 years, it becomes
very real again.
Babaga
I can relate to this: our (last) civil war, which left the country
totally devastated, is still very real (for some people esp.).
Unexploded bombs, ammo, and even mass graves (where, say, all males in
a given village were executed just because), are still being found in
the countryside.
On the good side it helps to keep the memory of such horrors alive to
us newer generations. As they say, 'Never Again' (yeah, right).
--
Please keep the 'x-no-archive: yes' header.
To reach me by email: transform my account name like IBM -> HAL.
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